. >> there's an epidemic of gun violence all across america. it's been increasingly prevalent in suburban communities. it's something that we in the inner city in brooklyn and harlem, southeast washington, d.c., south central los angeles have been dealing with and it's become all too familiar. this summer in new york city was a summer of great violence. as you know, you helped to shine the spot light on some of the things that were taking place in new york. the problem now is one that i think can no longer be ignored by the congress. and the newtown tragedy has made a claim that it's no longer possible and should no longer be possible for the second amendment to shield the go government's ability to enablgt sensible gun safety measures. for too long, the second amendment has been used as such a shield. it protects responsible gun ownership, but it cannot protect the ability of people to possess high capacity ammunition clips, assault weapons, that can unleash mayhem on a community, on a school, on a neighborhood in a matter of moments. and i th